Testing machine



June 27, 1944. D. B. Rwmow TESTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 12, 1943 i Sheets-Sheet 1 Rs RS www June 27, 1944. D. BROwNLow 2,352,161

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D. B. BRowNLow Y TESTING MACHINE Filed LAug.,12, 1943 s sheets-sheet s' (08 69 @ar/b 3mm/0M Patented June 27, 1944 TESTING MACHINE David B. Brownlow, Middletown, Conn., assgnor to The Russell Manufacturing Company, Middletown, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application August 12, 1943, Serial No. 498,282

6 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in testin-g machines for testing cartridge feed-belts for machine guns.

One object of this invention is to provide an improved machine for testing cartridge feed-belts for machine guns to ensure proper uniformity of size and spacing of the pockets of the belt.

With the above and other objects in view, as will appear to those skilled in the art from the present disclosure, this invention includes all features in the said disclosure which are novel over the prior art.

In the description and claims, the various parts and steps are identied by specific names for convenience, but they are intended to be as generic in their application as the prior art will permit.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of the present disclosure in which -certain ways of carrying out the invention are shown for illustrative purposes:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a machine for testing cartridge feed-belts for machine guns, made in accordance with the present invention;v

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig; 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmental view on line 3--3 of Fig. 2 partly in section but mostly in elevation;

Fig. 4 is a view of the wiring diagram for the machine;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2 of a fragmental portion thereof on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing the action which occurs when a defective pocket is encountered;

Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10 are views similar to Fig. 1 of a fragmental portion thereof shown in different positions of a cycle of operation;

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the belt-feeding and pocket-testing member;

Fig. 12 is a side-edge View on an enlarged scale of the belt-feeding and pocket-testing member;

Fig. 13 is a perspective View similar to Fig. 11 of a modified form of feeding-and-testing member; and

Fig. 14 is a sectional view on line l4-I4of Fig. 1.

In carrying out the invention in the particular way illustrated in Figs. 1 to 12 of the draw- 1ings,the testing machine 20 includes a support 2| which may be mounted upon a bench or table top. Mounted on the under-side of the support .2| is aframe 22 carrying a rotatably-mounted shaft 23 secured to which is a pulley 24 drivable by a'belt 25 from a pulley 26 which is freely rotatable relatively to the shaft'Zl of an electric drive-motor 28 except when it is clutched to the shaft 21 as hereinafter set forth. When the machine is to be used by an operator to test feedbelts, the electric circuit to the motor 28 and the other electrical parts to be later described, will be closed -by any suitable switch 81, so that the motor runs continuously. y

A plate or fly-wheel 29 is xedly secured to the motor-shaft 21, and :lixedly secured to the plate 29 is a friction clutch-facing 43f! adapted to frictionally engage against the end-face of a brakedrum portion 3| of the pulley 26. A bell-crank lever 32 is pivoted at 33, and when its outer end 34 is swung downward, the ball-end screw 35 presses against the closed end of the hub portion 36 of the pulley 26 to thus push the pulley 26 with its clutch and brake-drum portion 3| against the clutch-facing 30 to thus cause the pulley 26 to be rotated by the motor 28. In'this downward movement of the end 34 of the lever 32, the V.brake-shoe 31 carried on the lever 32 is moved downward away from the brake-surface of the brake-drum. 3l. When the end 34 f the Y.bell-crank lever 32 is rswung upward byany means, such for example as the spring 38, thenr the brake-shoe 31 is applied against thecylindrical brake-surface of the drum portion 3l and the ball-end screw 35 is swung away from the hub 36, thus releasing the pressure between the end face of the drum 3| and the friction clutchfacing 30 to thus stop the rotation of the pulley 26.

The end -34 of the bell-crank lever 32 is swung downward to brake-releasing and clutching-position'by a rod 39 pivoted at one end at 4D to the end 34 of the lever 32, and at the other end to a starting-lever 4I pivotedly mounted at 42 to a portion of the frame 22. The starting-lever 4l has an integral latch-flug .43 adapted to .be engaged by a latch 44 carried on a s lidable solenoidplunger 45 of a solenoid 46 which is carried on a bracket 41 secured tothe support 2l, the parts 43 and 44 being held engaged as shown in Fig. 3 by a compression spring 8B.

Mounted on the top of the support 2l is a guide 48 through which the feed-belt 49 is adapted to travel. The feed-belt 49 has a succession of cartridge-receiving pockets 5D which are to be tested for proper size and spacing. A belt-feeding and pocket-testing member 5l is pivoted by screw 52 to a plate 53 fxedly secured to a shaft 54 having av bevel-gear 55 fixedly. secured thereto and meshing with another bevel-gear 56 secured to the shaft.23. The feeding-and-testing member 5I also has a pivot-connection by means of a and-testing member 5| has a component of movef ment relatively transversely edgewise of the belt 49, it can move into a pocket of the belt. as is illustrated in Figs. '7, 8 and 9, and inasmuch as it has a component of movement inthe longitudinal direction of the belt, it also will feed kor push the belt along longitudinally of itself, as will be evident from Figs. 7 to 10 inclusive. The plates 53 and 59 are driven at the same speeds of rotation. The feeding movement of the belt will be `seen to-'be an intermittent movement, the movements taking place during the portion of travel ofthemember 5| shown in Figs; 8,"9 and 10, there being no feeding movement while the member 5| moves from its position shown in Fig. 10 back to its position shown in Fig. '1.

The feeding-and-testing member 5| is formed of a-central or intermediate plate 53 of spring steel and having two outside stiffening-and-wear plates 94 riveted thereto by the rivets 55. A bronze bushing E6 forms a suitable anti-friction pivot for pivoting on the pivot-screw 52. The central plate 53 has a relatively-small end-portionA 61 and a relatively-wider portion 63 with fairlyblunt curved connecting-portions 99. The

yproper degree of friction but without lcrurnpling the pocket. But if the pocket isftoo small, so that it has too tight a fit with the Wide portion 58 ofthe linger 19, then as the linger 19 moves into such undersized pocket, it crumples 'the pocket somewhat after the'manner illustrated in Fig.` 6.

Also, if the pocket is too big, so that the wide portion 68 slidesin more freely than it should, then the pocket will bey so large that one or the other, or both, of the secondary testing-fingers 1|, 12 will engage against the outer edge of a junction area 13 where the two plies of the belt are joined together between each two successive pockets, and thus Will crumple the belt at 'this location in a manner somewhat similar tov that 'illustrated in Fig. 6. Another defect Which sometimes occurs in` weaving'of machine-gun belts is that instead of all of the cross-over threads being properly located in the crossover-area 13, some threads, due to defects in the weaving operation, will extend out into the free pocket area vwhere they should not be, and the nge'r'10 will engage such threads and crumple the belt at such location.

In order to identify each defective 'pocket which crumples under the testing-and-feeding action of the member 5|, a plate 14 is pivoted or hinged at 15 and is normally held down in the position shown in Fig. 5 close to the top surface of the belt 49 within a space 16 betweentwo guide-members 11 of the guide 48 by means of a spring 18, in addition to the weight of the mem- 4ber 14. Carried on the plate 14 is a cam-member 19 adapted to push the rod 80 against the action of the spring 8| by a small swinging movement of the plate-member 14 upward a small distance such as it would be moved as shown in Fig. 6 by a crumpled portion of the belt 49. When this small upward movement of the plate 15 occurs and thus pushes the rod 80 to the left of Fig. l, it engages against the roller 82 of a micro-switch 83 to thus close a low-voltage circuit through a relay 84 (Fig. 4) to thus close the main high-voltage circuit which may, for example, be the usual alternating-current 110 volt circuit, through the solenoid 46 to thus pull the latch 44 away from the latching-lug 43 of the starting- -lever 4| against the action of the spring 88, to

thus permit the spring 39 to swing the lever 32 to unclutch the drive from the motor from the drivepulley 26 and apply the brake-shoe 31 to the brake-drum 3| to thus quickly stop the machine with the crumpled pocket-portion of the belt in substantially the position that it was in when it pushed the plate 14 upward. The operator then lightly pushes the starting-lever 4| down unt'l the electric motor 28 is clutched in driving-relation with the pulley 25, but without engaging the latch 44, until the mechanism moves the feedingand-testing member 5| out of the defective pocket to a position such as that shown in Fig. '1, whereupon the belt portion containing the defective pocket can be readily removed from the guide 48 and the operator can cut the portion of the belt to the right of the defective pocket so that all of the belt that has gone through the machine to the point of the crumpled pocket constitutes a length of feed-beltthat has been tested properly. The crumpled pocket can then be cut off by scissors, knife, or other suitable means, and the remaining portion of the untested belt can be replacedin the guide V48 with a pocket in proper position, so that When the pivoted plate 14 is swung down to the position shown yin Fig. 5 and starting-lever 4| is pushed down to latched position, the machine will be started and cause the main finger 19 to enter the properly positioned pocket andintermittently feed the feed- 4belt longitudinally of itself andtest the cartridgereceiving pockets thereof until a defective pocket is encountered and crumpled to thus stop the feed of the feed-belt as previously described. If the operator desires, at any time while it is running, to stop the machine, he can do so by pressing upon the push-button ,switch 85 which closes the low-voltage circuit through the relay 94.

When the feed-belt 49 which is being tested, has its two plys unconnected along, its forward edge to provide what may be called a `V-edge, a knife-like edge-opener 39 is employed which has a force-fit in a slot in one of theguide-members 11 and has its edge-portion 99 vprojecting .into the path of travel of the forward edge Aof the feed-belt49 so as toopen out the forward V-edge of the feedbelt 49 as shown in Fig. 14 to .ensure the properentry of the end portion `61 of the feeding-and-testing finger 10 into the pockets of the feed-belt. The edge-opener 89 is, preferably made of tempered tool steel and preferably is chromium plated and the plating is polished to thus produce a surface.V which .has a low coeilicient of friction and which also .resists `wear produced by the rubbing action of the, fabrice the feed-belt against it.

AAfter the feeding-and-testing member 5| -is completely made as illustrated in Figs, 411 and l2,

'the finger-end portion `including fingers '1.0,"1l

and 1.2 and extending back-to' beyond any part that would be engageable in the fabric of the pocket, is chromium plated and the plating is polished to thus produce a surface which has a low coefficient of friction and Which also resists wear produced by the rubbing action of the fabric of the feed-belt against it.

The modified form of feeding-and-testing member 85 shown in Fig. 13 is the same as the feeding-and-testing member 5l except that it has no secondary testing fingers.

The invention may be carried out in other specic Ways than that herein set forth Without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention, and the present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming Within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to belembraced therein.

I claim:

1. A machine for testing cartridge feed-belts for machine guns, including: means for feeding a cartridge feed-belt longitudinally of itself; pocket-testing means movable relatively-transversely edgewise of the lbelt to test the size of each pocket and to crumple each pocket that is undersize; and means actuated by each crumpled pocket for identifying each such crumpled pocket.

2. A machine for testing cartridge feed-belts for machine guns, including: means for feeding a cartridge feed-belt longitudinally of itself; pocket-testing means movable relatively-transversely edgewise of the belt to test the size of each pocket and to crumple each pocket that is undersize; and means actuated by each crumpled pocket for stopping the feed of the belt.

3. A machine for testing cartridge feed-belts for machine guns, including: belt-feeding and pocket-testing means having a component of movement for feeding a cartridge feed-belt longitudinally of itself and a component of movement relatively-transversely edgewise of the belt to test the size of each pocket and to crumple each pocket that is undersize; and means actuated by each crumpled pocket for identifying each y such crumpled pocket.

5. A machine for testing cartridge feed-belts for machine guns, including: belt-feeding and pocket-testing finger-means adapted to enter proper-size pockets and including a primary feeding-and-testing finger and a secondary testingfinger, said primary nger having a component vof movement for feeding a cartridge feed-belt longitudinally of itself and said primary and secondary fingers having a component of movement relatively-transversely edgewise of the belt to test the size of each pocket and to crumple each pocket that is undersize or oversize; and means actuated by each crumpled pocket for identifying each such crumpled pocket.

6'. A 'machine for testing cartridge feed-belts for machine guns, including: belt-feeding and pocket-testing finger-means adapted to enter proper-size pockets and including a primary feeding-and-testing finger, and two secondary testing ngers, one on each of opposite sides of the primary finger, said primary finger having a component of movement for feeding a cartridge feedbelt longitudinally of itself and said primary and secondary fingers having a component of movement relatively-transversely edgewise of the belt to test the size of each pocket and to crumple each pocket that is under-size or oversize; and means actuated by each crumpled pocket for identifying each such crumpled pocket.

' DAVID B. BROWNLOW. 

